To prevent manhole-related mishaps and deaths, BMC ward officers will carry out inspection of their areas every Tuesday and Thursday to identify broken or open drainage chambers and will fix them within 24 hours. To this effect, BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi issued a circular on Wednesday and asked senior officials and local corporators to accompany the ward officers for the survey. As per the circular, deputy municipal commissioners will also make surprise visits and carry out inspections every Wednesday and Friday. There are around 80,000-85,000 manholes in the city.

The first ward to kick-start the exercise on Thursday was G-South ward in Parel, where deputy mayor and corporator of Worli-Koliwada Hemangi Worlikar, and assistant municipal commissioner Devendra Kumar Jain inspected ward number 193 for open manholes and leaking drains. “We have formed two teams of maintenance and drainage departments. They will survey the wards, identify problems and solve them immediately,” said Jain, adding that a standard size, open RCC manhole cover will be replaced immediately. Any manhole requiring fabricating and welding will be barricaded and the cover will be replaced within two to three hours, Jain said.

Pardeshi’s circular states that besides the local corporator and ward officer, the teams must comprise officers from the maintenance, gardens, solid waste management and drainage departments. The teams will also look at issues like potholes, drains, tree trimming and unattended garbage. In their visits on Wednesday and Friday, deputy municipal commissioners will also inspect solid waste management chowkies to monitor biometric attendance.

Mahim-based activists Irfan Machiwala and Mushtaq Ansari, who had undertaken the task of documenting open manholes and drainage chambers in some wards (including the G-North ward), said that the BMC should also look into rampant thefts of manhole covers and storm-water drain nets. “The most common thing to be stolen from the BMC’s kitty is a manhole cover. Made of cast iron, it’s lucrative when sold to scrap dealers,” they said, adding that a manhole cover weighs between 100 kg and 200 kg depending on the size. Each, according to them, could fetch between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000.

“There is a need for an investigation. These thefts go unnoticed and, as a result, lead to accidents. Rarely any arrests are made,” said Machiwala. He further said that BMC officers are required to lodge a complaint for every manhole cover theft with the local police station. They must also attach a copy of the police complaint for replacement of the cover.

According to Ansari, the BMC faces criticism every year for negligence that puts citizens’ lives in danger. “Opening manholes for other than sewerage work is unauthorised. Mumbai police should speed up detention in such thefts,” he said.